Peggy Smedley Show

Alex Schwarzkopf, CEO, Pillar Technologies, says the problem the company is attacking is a very small piece of the connected jobsite by deploying a network of smart sensors that are monitoring the changing conditions of the building. He says it can provide insight into early warnings like fire and water. He explains that contractors have a lot of responsibility already, and putting another dataset in front of them can be challenging, which is why Pillar targets the insights.

Alex Schwarzkopf, CEO, Pillar Technologies, says the construction industry is very reactive, and how do we adjust to strategize? He says since this behavioral shift is new, Pillar is very approachable, and the company has taken a lot of time and energy to make the sensors easy to move and the dashboard really intuitive.

Peggy says, as an industry, we need to jump ahead of the curve and be proactive around cybersecurity. She explains a new study suggests end users are leery when it comes to connected-device security, and there is a need for more education around cybersecurity.

Peggy continues her forward-looking discussion, focusing this week on connected cars and how we can keep hackers out of our automobiles. She says we need to identify how to create a culture that is prepared to handle the vulnerabilities that exist within vehicles

Peggy talks about how smart cities use better resources, explaining they are more accessible and convenient for citizens and visitors, as well as more economically competitive. She says one of the latest research studies shows that roughly half of government officials say the IoT (Internet of Things) will provide value.

Padraig Stapleton, vice president of engineering, Argyle Data, says the telecom and mobile industry creates vast amounts of data on a daily basis. Enter machine learning, he says it steps in and looks at the data in any form you want to deploy it in. He explains the work it is doing with Carnegie Mellon University is to detect fraud in the mobile industry.

Peggy talks about the future of agriculture, and says a wearable device can detect fatigue and stress of farmers to recognize when they are overworked. She says this is just the beginning, and in the future, everything will become connected, with a data point harvested on a crop being leveraged much later, but the industry needs to come together to make this vision a reality and to help to leverage our youth to understand the Internet of Things.

Ole Mengshoel, principal systems scientist, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, CMU, Silicon Valley, says the development of artificial intelligence has been going on at universities for a while, but it is only recently that there is more commercial interest. He explains the improvement in hardware and improvement of algorithms are driving commercialization.

Jake Fields, CEO and founder, Treeline Interactive, says the company is working with clients and partners that want to leverage the IoT to make their business more efficient. He explains in the past couple years there has been an explosion where people have started to embrace connected devices and the sensors that are feeding the data. Now, it is a matter of identifying how to tie it to the core of the business, he says.

Peggy talks about some of the industrial Internet of Things hurdles and says skimping on security is the riskiest move in the long haul. She explains she can't think of a single industry that can afford to skip the Internet of Things, and therefore can't afford to sidestep security. She addresses the importance of standards in the industrial IoT.

Jay Kim, chief strategy officer, APX Labs, says wearables are the next big thing in industrial workforce technology, replacing things like paper and even smartphones, and explains wearables can become an integral part of a daily job, especially for hands-on workers. He continues that his company is in the business of creating a human working with machines environment, rather than a human versus machine environment.

Steve Latham, founder and CEO, Banyan Hills Technologies, says when his company develops a relationship with a customer, it truly is a relationship that helps the client understand the business challenge, and making sure that they aren't looking at IoT just because of the hype, but because it is really applicable. He defines the Internet of Things as taking a device and enabling that device with the appropriate hardware and software, connecting it to the Internet, and remotely monitoring it.

Ron Konezny, president & CEO, Digi Intl., says machine-to-machine is truly a subset of IoT, emphasizing the remote access. He explains there is a tremendous amount of data that is collected in these applications, and we are hearing about artificial intelligence now because it is impossible to keep up with all the information that is generated. He continues

Peggy says the industrial IoT (Internet of Things) started out as a way to improve operational efficiency, but today it is so much more. She explains the IIOT (industrial IoT) is a tool for finding growth in unexpected opportunities. She talks about some of the new innovations including predictive maintenance and AI (artificial intelligence).

Bryan Kester, director of Internet of Things, Autodesk, Inc., says the technology company has a lab that is working on nanotechnology materials. He explains the costs for the IoT have come down dramatically in the past several months, making it more affordable, and now businesses can scale as a result.

Mike Sicilia, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Construction and Engineering, says it is an interesting and exciting time in the construction vertical, specifically around Internet of Things, as the industry is seeing an uptick in firms using the IoT for monitoring. He explains the growth rate of the IoT in engineering and construction is faster than any other vertical industry right now.

Glenn Laxdal, head of strategy and technology, Ericsson North America, says currently the vision is on enabling autonomous vehicles through the most straight forward way, which is vehicle-to-vehicle communication. He continues, saying that to get to truly autonomous cars, the vehicle needs to see its surroundings, including both short-range and long-range surrounding which is vehicle-to-infrastructure. He says cars need to see what is in their immediate vicinity, as well as what will soon be in their vicinity.

Peggy concludes the month of September by taking a cue from George Orwell, and looks to the future of transportation to determine where the industry is headed. Instead of talking about self-driving vehicles, she takes listeners to the future, and looks at flying cars and levitating trains. She says several companies are already exploring prototypes for flying vehicles—literally taking to the skies within the next few years.

Peggy starts the show by talking about the U.S. Dept. of Transportation's newly released Federal Automated Vehicles policy which sets the stage for best practices and guidance related to autonomy in the transportation industry. She says we won't get there overnight, and we really need to focus on building the infrastructure first. The DOT intends for the policy to be a "living document," based on feedback received from various entities every year, she explains.

Sanjeev Rastogi, business director, Honeywell, says next-generation technology will provide great performance, as well as something that is great for the environment. He says it can be leveraged in the automobile industry to reduce waste, and improve efficiency. He explains the auto industry is always looking to improve fuel efficiency, and one way to do this is a lighter car, which ultimately means less fuel to make it move.

Maryline Daviaud Lewett, business development manager, Smart Integrated Infrastructure, Black & Veatch, says we are seeing new types of transportation today, with new electric and hybrid vehicles are coming on the market today. She says the new generation of autonomous cars are coming on the market, and in parallel a lot of companies are focusing on public transportation.

Peggy says Uber is in the middle of setting itself up for something big in both the enterprise and consumer space, and explains Uber has become more of a technology company with one move. She talks about how autonomous vehicles are emerging in ride sharing. She says Uber is the "cool" company helping to "normalize" the idea that cars can and will drive themselves someday, perhaps even someday soon.

Peggy explains why it is important to understand how we are going to connect these roads and infrastructure. Technology companies and government need to come together to discuss how we are going to build the infrastructure and create autonomous vehicles, she explains.

Marcus Welz, CEO, Siemens Intelligent Traffic Systems, says there is no industry embracing innovation more than the transportation industry, and the vehicle themselves will become traffic information generators. He explains the whole innovation in the transportation industry is driven by the connected vehicle space.

Peggy says technology can go a long way to help the lives of those living with disabilities and the elderly. She shares the U.S Dept. of Transportation is taking this into consideration to begin researching and implementing innovative applications for accessible transportation.

Jay Ellis, program director, MTRAC Transportation, says there aren't many funding sources that help commercialize research. He explains that money helps, but it's the connections that are made that help all this new technology accelerate out of the university and make it to market.

Will Bauman, junior, Grayslake North High School and YSA (Youth Service America) Road Safety Ambassador, shares he was inspired to get involved with distracted driving education after he and his mother were involved in an accident in 2013. He says it is important to educate both adults and children, and is currently working to develop a program at his high school.

Shawn Pruchnicki, faculty member, Ohio State Aviation, says aviation has seen a lot of growth and innovation in the last 10 years, and soon there will be a complete overhaul of the current system. He explains aircraft handling has become more efficient which improves navigation, fuel-savings, and more.

David Alan Grier, 2013 IEEE Computer Society president and associate professor, George Washington University, says we live in a world where we can't sit still and the driving force behind automation is capital. He says this push for automation actually creates opportunities for the new generation.

Peggy says there are new ways of looking at technology and all that the IoT (Internet of Things) can do. She explains the IoT drives change, and it is important for us to come together and recognize the importance of infrastructure so we can focus on rebuilding America.

Vin D'Agostino, vice president general purpose unit, Renesas Electronics America Inc., explains the IoT ecosystem is seeing a lot of unexpected players enter the space and some will decide it isn't for them. He says early adopters that love the technology give a lot of feedback and help propel the IoT forward.

David Alan Grier, 2013 IEEE Computer Society president and associate professor, George Washington University, says it is very important for small businesses to be responsive to the market and needs, and they should really be looking for what trends are out there. He says long-term thinking is a must.

Joel Feldman, founder of the Casey Feldman Organization and EndDD.org, says although he lost his daughter to a distracted driver, he is very fortunate for the opportunities he has to educate kids on the dangers of distracted driving. He explains this generation of kids wants to help spread the distracted driving message.

Peggy addresses the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's proposed amendments to distracted driving laws across the country, which have seen been regarded to as a mistake. She asks how a mistake of this magnitude could possibly be made and suggests there may have been a bigger plan behind it.

Jeff Haley, acting executive director, Distracted Driving Foundation, says trying to remove all communications from moving automobiles would be overkill. He explains technology needs to catch up and be the solution to the problem it created.

Peggy shares preliminary estimates for motor deaths from the National Safety Council. She explains the increasing trend from 2015 is going from bad to worse, as there has been a 9% increase in fatalities in the first half of the year.

Michael Carlson, president, digital grid North America, Siemens, says the best IoT (Internet of Things) solution for the grid involves bringing together all of the technology that is currently there. He explains the biggest frontier to be conquered is the data and analytics.

Lindsay Baker, president, Comfy, says the company offers software as a service with an app that allows users to control the atmosphere around them. She explains the software learns what the environment is like overtime, and is able to adapt accordingly on its own.

Farah Saeed, principal consultant, Frost & Sullivan, says there is some impatience in the energy sector when it comes to transforming old systems. She explains the Internet revolutionized how we do things at lightning speed, but suggests utilities take longer because there are still unanswered questions.

Peggy explores what some of the big companies are interested in doing in AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality). She explains AR/VR has traditionally been wrapped up in consumer applications, but is now expanding and set to transform the enterprise.

Mark Chung, CEO and co-founder, Verdigris, explains the AI (artificial intelligence) company is focused on making IoT accessible to large, commercial buildings to transform normal buildings into smart ones. He explains some projects have seen as much as 22% in energy cost-savings.

Brian Jamison, national procurement director, PulteGroup, explains the Zero Net Energy Home prototype, a high performance home built in northern California. He says the house consumes no more power than it produces and performs like any other home with no special requirements of homeowners.

Ellen Qualls, VP for communications & public affairs, Renovate America, says it is important to put tools in the hands of contractors that can help educate homeowners on the importance of selecting energy efficient options for their homes. She explains investments in energy efficiency can recuperate the initial invest in a home when trying to sell.

Recent research from Vodafone revealed 76% of businesses say IoT (Internet of Things) will be critical to the future success of organizations. Peggy explains that as an industry, we tend to overestimate the number of organizations already using IoT, and adopting IoT really is key to create ROI (return on investment).

Tom Ivory, head of strategic innovation, Capgemini, explains companies are looking to transform business processes to become faster and more efficient. He says automation can free up workers from mundane activities, allowing them to spend time on more valuable tasks.

Peggy encourages listeners to register to attend the Peggy Smedley Institute to explore new IoT (Internet of Things) ideas and implementations. She says IoT technology is changing fast across the verticals and this day of education will provide new insights and information.

Roberto Aiello, managing director, Itron Idea Labs, says machines can make better decisions than we can, which is why there needs to be a push for more intelligence everywhere. He explains water and energy have had connected devices for awhile but the next step is making them more intelligent.

Peggy says UPS has become a leader in global supply-chain management and is helping transform commercial transportation and logistics. She explains the company has a long history of adopting innovative technology that began with adopting conveyor belt technology before it became mainstream.

Massoud Amin , IEEE fellow, chair of the IEEE smart grid, and director/professor, University Of Minnesota, explains the smart self-healing grid can sense and react to abnormalities in a fraction of a second. He says there is a need for a grid overhaul in the U.S. in the near future for economic and environmental security.

Joe Lynch, vice president, marketing, Omnicell, explains automation is relatively new in healthcare, but is making a big impact. He explains patients and staff benefit from automation systems such as electronic health records and even IVs can now be automated.